Bangladesh, India plan to discuss ships intrusion

Indian high commissioner Dhaka Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, said he made the proposal when summoned to the foreign ministry in Dhaka.

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27 Aralık 2008 Cumartesi 12:56

South Asian neighbours India and Bangladesh plan to hold talks to discuss the intrusion of Indian survey ships into its neighbour's territorial waters, an Indian official said.

Indian high commissioner Dhaka Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, said he made the proposal when summoned to the foreign ministry in Dhaka.

Bangladesh on Friday spotted three Indian survey vessels in its territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal near an oil and gas exploration block. It has sent a naval patrol vessel to the area, its foreign ministry said.

Bangladesh said it has accepted India's proposal in principle but wants India to remove its survey vessels until the territorial waters are demarcated.

"We have taken the Indian proposal positively but hope India will remove the survey ships," Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain said.

Relations between Bangladesh and India are usually friendly but they have occasional disputes, mainly related to trespassing and smuggling through their 4,000-km (2,500-mile) porous border.